St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-06-11
THE TRADE IN SALT.

- Unatea aeases HAVE @ Imrart =
Aseh q rAis Cs0neAasy.
Not many people know that in spits
u the wonderful salt wells and salt de.
posts in this country We annually inn
port Immense quantities Of salt" said
n = Miller. . commission merchant
the other day. 'Our importasions arc
constantly increasing. too, although the
output OF our own salt factories kecps
pace with the growth Of the population.
ana there b . considerable duty ON all
KINDS OF salt The reason is that GER
tam line grades and special kinds Of
salt are not made in this country. You
can get about q good dairy or table
salt from the New York or Michigan
wells - from anywhere in the world.
but you can't get the coarse salt used
IN packing meats for export. the quickly
dissolving Turk Island salt used in tho
ice cream factories. nor the curious
spanish salts that the street-car COM
Panies sprinkle on their tracks when
they think Henry Bergh isn't looking.
All the domestic salt, except that which
is mined in Louisiana. is made by evap-
Grating. by artificial heat, brine pumped
out Of the earth. The very valuable
coarse salt which we import is made by
evaporatng sea water in the open air.
It IL made where people IAN afford to
wait three or four months for a few
dollars. Where's that? Well. along
the Mediterranean. for instance. The
people there dam up a little bay and
wait till the sun and the winds have
carried the water away. 1t isn't very
pure salt that they scrape up OF the
mud. but it is indispensable for some
purposes.
1.-The experiment of making solar salt
mas been tried in this country. but with
out much success. The quality Of the
sea water varies good deal. It will
deposit one kind Of salt ON one island
and another perceptibly different. even
to the eye, on another island perhaps
not more than forty miles away. We
do an immense trade with the West
Indies in salt There are = dozen
places that furnish altogether different
kinds of salt, and each has its particu-
lar use. One very fine and easily
soluble variety is used in the havoring
Of chewing tobacco. Not many chewers
know that. but they would find out
very quickly that something was lack
ing If the salt should be omitted. Some
physicians have thought that the pres
ence of the salt makes the tobacco very
injurious.
There isn't so much English dairy
salt imported rs there used to be. At
one time manufacturers Of fine butter
thought that their products would b
utterly ruined if any thing but fine En-
glish salt touched them. 1t isn't. 50
now. For one reason. American salt
makers have learned the trick Of making
good dairy salt. and for another. Ameri-
can salt has got to be wonderfully cheap.
Out in the Saginaw region Of Michigan
the salt wells are right by the side OF
the big lumber mills. All that is neces-
sary is to attach to the mill machinery
. pump to draw up the brine and feed
the saw-dust and timber waste. which
would otherwise be thrown away. to the
evaporating kettles. In that way salt
can be made for about twelve cents .
bushel. Gentlemen who own salt wells
and lumber mills in Michigan are usually
rich enough to buy out an ordinary
State.-N T. Commercial advertiser.